Russia to help Namibia to form state policy in uranium sector

26.02.2007 // RIA Novosti

Russia will help Namibia to elaborate a state policy in nuclear sector

The development of the policy will allow Namibia to lift the uranium extraction licensing moratorium, Namibian Minister of Mine and Energy Erkki Ngimtina said.

It would be good if our friends helped us to form the policy in the sphere as this would help us to lift the moratorium, Ngimtina said during his meeting with a Russian delegation comprising the head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko and Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev.
 
The moratorium on uranium extraction licensing was imposed in Namibia several weeks ago for the sake of security, Ngimtina said. He noted that there are countries who act not seriously, get licenses, earn money and go away.
 
The minister said that the uranium sector is very important for Namibia and the country needs a national policy on nuclear fuel.

Ngimtina pointed out that Namibia enjoys mutual understanding and active dialogue with Russia and is ready to give Russian companies access to uranium projects on a 50/50 basis. Last year we got material resources from Russia, now, we would like to produce them in Namibia on a 50/50 basis, Ngimtina said.

Techsnabexport representative Anna Belova told journalists that Techsnabexport and Renova are ready to start prospecting activities in Namibia, while the licenses can be formalized later.